Question Period – March 21, 2022

[Applause] questions are all oral questions the honorable member for meg antiglide [Applause] mr speaker railways are at the heart of our economy but canadians are having an increasingly difficult time to get essential goods this labor conflict could not come at a worse moment every day farmers businesses and millions of canadians are being affected by this labor conflict and this could easily have been predicted what is the liberals plan to pretend to prevent the supply chain from being disrupted and businesses from closing the honorable minister of labor mr speaker negotiations always involve difficulties but we must overcome them the two sides of the negotiation will be continuing to work today they are working hard no one has left the table they are all aware of what is at stake thank you mr speaker the honorable member for megan siegler mr speaker two years after a pandemic that has scarred our supply chains that has increased prices throughout the economy i am very disappointed by this government's nonchalance no one should be surprised about this work stoppage and yet again this prime minister is slow to react things will get much worse if a solution is not found quickly can this prime minister commit today to finding a solution to this conflict the honourable minister of labor mr speaker the best agreements are reached when everyone is at the table we have confidence in the parties to reach a solution that they negotiate together canadians are counting on a rapid resolution to the situation thank you mr speaker the honorable member for megan siegler mr speaker it sounds like the government is washing its hands of the situation i don't really understand what the minister is saying while the parties are negotiating canadians canadians are paying a high price inflation has reached high levels houses aren't affordable this situation is causing canadians to make difficult choices and things are only going to get worse we have a proposal for the government to immediately reduce the burden on canadians would this government agree that gas and diesel gst should immediately be removed the honorable minister of labor mr speaker the parties are still negotiating no one has left the table we believe that the parties will be able to reach an agree will be able to reach an agreement around the table this government believes that the best agreements are reached by the party since they know the issues and canadians are counting on them to reach the agreement as quickly as possible thank you the honourable member for charney lambton well mr speaker when i previously asked the minister of transport what he was doing to prevent a cp rail strike he said let me assure my colleague we're monitoring the situation i've met the ceo i've met with the teamsters it's really important that we maintain the fluidity of our supply chain well the strike is on and is already happening the agriculture sector is already seeing it the automotive sector has said they can't supply you know they can't endure another hit and the chamber of commerce is calling for back to work legislation on behalf of small businesses so what is the government's plan to immediately resolve this dispute the honorable minister of labor mr speaker notice of a work stoppage couldn't have come at a worse time every day that goes by for farmers and for manufacturers in this country particularly is an hour or a day too long and i think that the parties at the table know that they have an enormous responsibility to all canadians to negotiate an agreement that protects supply chains that canadians depend on they are working hard no one has left the table our party believes that the best deals are reached at the table thank you mr speaker the honorable member for sarnia lambton well mr speaker those are empty words because the government's record is being slow to act in these situations with the wet suet in in the coast of gas rail blockades it took weeks for the federal government to intervene with the port of montreal over a week 4 500 rail cars a day and nearly half a billion dollars of goods getting to market are in jeopardy every day canadians can't afford more inflation eight out of nine of the previous cp disputes went to binding arbitration so what will the government do to immediately address this situation the honorable minister of labor mr speaker i would acknowledge i mean canada supply chains are still reeling from the bc floods from covet 19 and now a russian invasion of ukraine can canadians best interests need to be prioritized i am here in calgary i am urging the parties to reach an agreement our government is committed to ensuring the reliability and the efficacy of our supply chains that support canada's economy right across all sectors canadians work together throughout this pandemic to find solutions to our collective challenges and they expect the same from stakeholders in our national economy thank you mr speaker the honorable member for la perry mr speaker the government has implemented an emergency travel authorization for ukraine war refugees and it can count on our party's support but also two weeks ago we proposed that the government charter additional flights for these people as we speak refugees are getting into the program they're filling out paperwork and then at the end of the process no one is going to get them when exactly will ukrainian refugees be able to take federally chartered flights the honorable minister thank you mr speaker i'd like to thank the member for his question and i'd like to thank him for his collaborative spirit on the issue of ukraine we are prioritizing ukrainian applications since january many ukrainians have arrived in canada and last week i announced measures that will enable ukrainians to enter canada more easily and quickly as well as safely i will continue to work closely with my colleagues to fill to facilitate the arrival of the most possible ukrainians to canada the honourable member for la perry mr speaker we're talking three and a half million refugees women children seniors and the number is increasing every day and canada is the second biggest ukrainian diaspora in the world so there may be a lot of people who want to come here and the government is going to need a lot of flights imagine ukrainian families who have all their paperwork filled out and yet because there's no transportation they will be stuck in refugee camps it's not humane and i i do not believe that the minister's answer is satisfactory we need the federal government to charter flights when the honorable minister mr speaker since january canada has welcomed more than 10 000 ukrainians we are working closely with all stakeholders the ukrainian canadian community the provinces and territories and the business sector among others to support people arriving from ukraine to arrange the best way for people to get here as quickly as possible regardless of what it takes mr speaker i'm very proud of the measures we put forward i'm going to continue to work to get as many people here as quickly as possible the honourable member for al mohd transcona thank you mr speaker what's happening in cp is a lockout and the minister should be concerned to know why a company in the supply chain is locking out its employees in the current circumstances gas housing and grocery prices are skyrocketing and families are having trouble making ends be making ends meet but big companies and big box stores are raking in the profits inequality is reaching historic levels what will the liberals do to make life more affordable by making the most wealthy canadians pay their fair share the honorable minister of tourism mr speaker what the member opposite is saying is talking about is affordability and we reduce taxes on the middle class twice we increase taxes for the wealthiest one percent but the ndp voted against we created the canada child benefit indexed with inflation and they voted against on this side of the house we are here to help canadians with affordability and we will continue to do so harvard churchill kuwait in mr speaker canadians reeling from the pandemic are having a hard time making ends meet groceries transportation housing corporate profits and ceo bonuses everything is increasing everything but income and pensions canadians are frustrated with this rigged economy the rich are getting richer and canadians are paying the price the ndp has a solution tax the rich tax the banks and use that money to offer relief to canadians will the government continue to stand with wealthy ceos or will they finally take action in support of canadians who are struggling right now the honourable minister of tourism and associate minister for finance thank you mr speaker i thank the honorable colleague for her question our government remains committed to this platform initiative now as it pertains to affordability it is disappointing that the ndp chose to vote against providing more pandemic supports for canadians and businesses in bill c2 raising taxes on the wealthiest one percent and lowering them for the middle class increasing investments for the canada revenue agency to combat tax evasions and investments to contact combat international tax avoidance we invite the opposition ndp to vote with us on c8 the honourable member for abbotsford well ever since this finance minister took charge the cost of living has skyrocketed inflation is at a 30-year high we know canadians are struggling to balance their own budgets paychecks don't go as far as they used to the cost of everything is out of control gas groceries housing yet the minister doesn't seem to care things are not getting better for canadians they're getting worse when will this minister tell canadians how she plans to fight inflation and when will she table her next budget the honorable minister of tourism and associate minister of finance mr speaker since the honorable member across has raised the issue of affordability let's review what we've done since taking office we lowered taxes for the middle class twice and raised them on the wealthiest one percent and conservatives voted against we created the ccb index to inflation conservatives voted corner i'll just have to give it a minute and wait for everybody to i know it's been a while i know we haven't seen each other in a while we haven't had a chance to hackle in a while the honorable the honorable minister of tourism associate minister of uh finance on a quick answer mr speaker we provided seniors over 75 years of age a one-time payment of 500 and guess what the conservatives voted against we're focused on affordability and that's what we will continue to do mr speaker the honorable member for abbotsford well mr speaker the question for was for the finance minister inflation is raging across our country and canadians are being left behind the cost of everything is skyrocketing i mentioned gas i mentioned groceries the price of home heating worse yet millions of canadians have lost their dream of home ownership as house prices spiral out of control yet the minister doesn't seem to care when will she finally tell canadians what she plans to do about the affordability crisis and when will she table a budget the honorable minister of tourism and associate minister of finance speaker it is uh an honor and a privilege for me to share with the member opposite exactly what we are doing and we'll continue to do on housing 72 billion invested in the national housing strategy 2.5 billion dollars invested in the rapid housing initiative mr speaker investments in every corner of this country in every riding even the noisy ones to make sure that housing is a right for everyone we will continue to focus on canadians while they're focusing on raising the temperature the honorable member for edmonton riverbend mr speaker a few weeks back i raised and alerted this house that the average home price in canada had hit 000 notice today mr speaker 868 000. what a reminder mr speaker of what the house price was when this prime minister came into office 434 thousand 000 so mr speaker they officially did it it took them six years but they have doubled the average home price here in canada so the minister how can he continue to ignore these numbers honourable minister of housing we remain committed to the important issue of housing affordability in canada and we have proposed solutions such as a new housing accelerator fund to speed up both the supply and the speed of home construction in canada a new rent to own program to help renters become home buyers as well as a temporary ban on foreign buyers of non-recreational residential property but you know mr speaker we moved to implement a one percent tax on non-resident non-canadian-owned real estate and the conservatives voted against it the honorable member for edmonton riverbend mr speaker all the programs that minister just spoke of fall under the cmhc now the cmhc is a government agency that according to its website is driven by one goal housing affordability for all yet newly revealed documents show that cmhc employees received 48 million dollars in bonuses in the last year mr speaker the average home price went up 21 in the last year how can this minister award the cmhc bonuses when canadians can't afford to buy a home the honorable minister of housing mr speaker the honourable member knows that no minister in my position has or will ever make decisions in terms of an independent crown corporation's employee compensation system cmhc like every crown corporation in canada is independent of political interference when it comes to the hiring and salaries of its employees i was going to say i've got the i've got the volume cranked on the chair and i'm not really hearing the answers so i want to make sure i can hear the questions and the answer so just try to keep the volume down just a little just a little i have the headset ready to go the honourable member for central okanagan samil kameen nicola mr speaker so many canadians are struggling to find an affordable place to rent let alone purchase a home why well problem prices have doubled since liberals took office and up 43 since 2015 or 2019 alone over the past two years the canada mortgage and housing corporation which reports to the minister of housing has given out 48 million dollars in bonuses 48 million dollars did the minister personally sign off on these bonuses or is he simply going to try and pass the blame onto someone else [Applause] in my position has or will ever interfere in an independent crown corporations decisions when it comes to employment and salaries we're focused on federal investments in housing making sure that more canadians than ever before have a safe and affordable place to call home and in british columbia where the members lighting is from we have invested over 5.8 billion dollars in affordable housing investments and these investments have helped over 128 000 families this includes 34.5 million dollars in 120 new units in west kelowna in the members room the honourable member for central okanagan somehow nicola mr speaker this minister is supposed to be the minister for housing not the minister for show me the money so what performance metrics could possibly justify doling out 48 million dollars an average of more than 12 000 per employee to over 93 percent of the employer employees during an affordable housing crisis will the minister show some spine cancel these bonuses or will he do what he always does mr speaker and just claim blame the opposition for what happens on his watch [Applause] the honourable member knows very well that no minister has or will ever interfere in the salaries and compensation of employees of an independent crown agency we're focused on providing affordable housing solutions for canadians mr speaker and every single time that we've brought more federal investments to the table the member opposite has voted against them so they're not serious about about affordable housing how do i know that the opposition day motion didn't have the the name affordable housing in it the election platform didn't have affordable housing in it they're not serious about this issue mr speaker london mr speaker montreal is reeling from a brutal weekend there were five armed assaults in less than 48 hours this is a sad reminder of the wave of violence that has been afflicting our city and that things didn't settle down while we were concentrated on other issues montreal is still facing conflicts between criminal groups and that has just been getting worse for three years but the government doesn't seem to care we've been talking about it for months and nothing is changing on the ground what is this minister doing concretely to do something about the gang war in the region of montreal parliamentary secretary thank you mr speaker our government is firmly committed to building safer communities to reduce gun crime we must address social conditions that lead youth to join gangs we're working closely with municipalities and indigenous communities to provide 250 million dollars over five years to bolster gang prevention and intervention programming by investing in community program we will stalk the cycle of gun and gang violence and prevent youth from enduring a life of crime thank you mr speaker the honourable member for amnesty mr speaker that's all very well but it's not enough the scourge of gang warfare is affecting the entire metropolitan region in laval firearms violence has more than doubled over the last three years but the tap hasn't been turned off and illegal firearms are still entering the country and the federal government is not taking serious action this is a crisis people feel less and less safe in their streets a quick solution would be to cut cut off access to weapons what is the minister of public safety waiting for the secretary parliamentary minister security public thank you mr speaker and we absolutely take this crisis seriously and we know that there is many many prongs in solving the issue of guns and gangs and that's why just last week the minister of public safety was in quebec and was speaking with organizations and announced funding for communities for municipalities for indigenous groups to deal with the score scourge of guns and gangs [Applause] mr speaker that's just not enough every time there's a shooting we have questions and each time the minister tells us that he has taken action or that he will take action but we don't see anything concrete happen there are just words and the situation is getting worse it can't go on like this montreal and the government of quebec are both telling us that the federal government is not doing enough when will the minister finally bring all resources to bear and find a solution to cut off access to illegal firearms thank you mr speaker and we know that protecting communities from gun violence requires a comprehensive and effective strategy to protect communities not just in montreal but across the country and our position is clear one of those prongs that we've take one of those actions we've taken is we've we have said assault style firearms have no place in canada and through a mandatory buy-back program we will remove the threat these deadly iron firearms pose for our communities from coast to coast to coast thank you mr speaker [Applause] the honorable member for richmond athabasca mr speaker skyrocketing oil prices are hitting canadian families hard meanwhile the liberal government is doing absolutely nothing it almost seems that they like it this way because that means there's more money in their coffers and they can continue to do what they do best spend spend and spend meanwhile canadians are wondering how they will manage to pay for their housing and how they will feed their children when will this government finally table concrete measures to help canadian families [Music] [Applause] mr speaker we recognize that canadians are facing skyrocketing prices but the opposition would like to make us believe that this is a consequence of the canadian economy what they don't seem to understand is that global prices are going up in part because of the serious situation in ukraine it is very likely that prices at the pump will rise and on this side of the house we care about affordability and we would invite the conservatives to join us and vote for c8 for kelowna lake country mr speaker members of parliament come to this house to represent their communities and offer common sense solutions on issues conservatives proposed a gst tax holiday on gasoline and diesel something that would help my constituents in kelowna lake country who are being hammered by gas prices as high as 214.5 this month the liberals are dismissing solutions if the ministers are so out of touch with the prices that canadians are paying at the pump will they ask their drivers what they're paying as they escort them around the honorable minister of tourism and associate minister of finance mr speaker i thank the honourable member for a question and we recognize that canadians are experiencing increased prices at the gas pumps the conservative party would have canadians believe that this is a consequence entirely of the canadian economy what the conservatives seem to leave out is that this rise in energy prices it do in great part to the tragic circumstances underway in ukraine mr speaker even if we implemented what the conservatives are peddling there's no guarantee that canadians would see a reduction of prices at the pump on this side of the house we create long-term solutions on that side they continue to peddle political games [Applause] the honourable member for dauphin swan river in nepal mr speaker the cost of gas has reached record highs i know the prime minister has never made a living in rural canada but rural canadians need to fill up their gas tanks to live their lives they can't take the subway to work they can't walk their kids to hockey they can't take the bus to town i think canadians deserve a break mr speaker so will the prime minister reduce the cost of fuel by removing the gst from gas and diesel here the honorable minister of tourism and associate minister of finance mr speaker the conservatives continue to talk down the canadian economy and spin economic fiction so let's talk about some facts mr speaker fact last week statistics canada showed that our annualized growth is 6.7 percent fact our economy is the

second fastest growing in the g7 fact despite omicron our gdp debt to gdp ratio is the lowest in the g corner sometimes you just get to a point where i just can't hear a thing i know everybody is excited to see each other we're excited to hear the minister's answer i'm sure they're i'm sure the government's excited to hear the questions that we're going to be answering so uh can we uh can we move can we just sort of keep the temperature down just a little bit enjoy our what's left of question period uh let the minister answer the question the honorable minister of tourism and associate minister of finance mr speaker the third of many facts that i'll share in this answer is that two and a half trillion dollars our economy is exactly the same size it was before the pandemic we are on track and we will continue to fight covet inflation on behalf of canadians the honorable member of skina bulkley valley mr speaker canadians want to see improved passenger rail but many were shocked to hear the liberals want to privatize service between toronto and quebec city if the liberals hand over their new rail project to a private corporation it's ordinary passengers who will pay while wealthy investors profit ottawa's disastrous experience with lrt shows the risk of handing transit over to private companies will the minister guarantee that passenger rail on the quebec windsor corridor will remain publicly operated honorable minister of transport mr speaker i want to thank my honorable colleague for giving me the opportunity to stand here today and talk about the great news that i helped announce just last week our government is committed to moving forward with the investment in the high frequency rail along the busiest corridor in canada where 95 of via passengers use the train to communicate between quebec montreal ottawa and toronto and stops in between this is great news for via rail this is great news for canadian travelers and this is great news for public transportation mr speaker member for vancouver east canadians are faced with a housing crisis yet under the liberals rental construction program affordable housing often ends up being 30 to 120 above the average market rent it's scandalous nearly half of the housing the liberal promise is expected to come from this program ninety percent of the funding has gone to for-profit developers canadians deserve better will the government change the requirements to ensure housing built under this program is substantially below market rent here here the honourable minister of housing mr speaker i want to thank the honourable member for her important question the national housing strategy has a number of important programs including the rental construction financing initiative it is important to assess each program based on the needs of canadians in different parts of the housing spectrum the particular program the honourable member mentions has actually conditions with respect to accessibility energy efficiency and minimum affordability requirements it has led to the construction of tens of thousands of new affordable rental housing across the country this week the honourable member for halifax west evokum thank you very much mr speaker two years have been heard on main streets across atlantic canada due to covet our community hubs have been forced to close our open reduced hours these closures have been especially hard on businesses in the arts and tourism sectors could the minister responsible for icoa tell this house what the government is doing for atlantic canada's main streets as pandemic restrictions start to ease the honorable minister much mr speaker i'd like to take a moment to thank my friend and colleague from halifax west for her excellent question locals and tourists discover the incredible things that they have to offer last week i was honored to announce the rediscover main street program which is investing 10 million dollars in helping these resilient businesses show off their amazing products their services and experience we've been there for atlantic canadian businesses since the pandemic started and we will be there with them to ensure that they become vibrant entities again thank you so much mr speaker [Applause] mr speaker after several attempts the liberals finally accepted to send lethal weapons to ukraine they sent 4 500 rocket launchers 500 grenades 100 anti-tank weapons and 2 000 rounds this morning the minister of foreign affairs confirmed that all the weapons had delivered been delivered to ukraine my question is simple were all canadian weapons destined for ukraine delivered or were they forgotten somewhere at the airport honorable parliamentary secretary thank you mr speaker we are leaving no stone unturned to support our ukrainian friends we have announced six tranches of military aid both lethal and non-lethal to ukraine before before february in february alone this represents well over 100 million in military aid to ukraine and we are working tirelessly with our allies to deliver this aid the minister continues to be in close contact with both her ukrainian counterpart and with nato allies to see how best canada and the alliance can continue supporting ukraine mr speaker thank you mr speaker that's not an answer we want to know if the weapons that were sent actually got to the battlefield and what happened to all this weaponry what the foreign minister of foreign affairs said this morning is unclear my question is simple are these weapons on the battlefield right now yes or no parliamentary secretary to the minister of national defense thank you mr speaker we are working as quickly as possible to deliver new tranches of aid to ukraine last month nearly 10 million dollars worth of lethal aid was delivered in full mr speaker we are working around the clock to get more aid to ukraine as quickly as possible alongside our nato allies mr speaker given the nature of this conflict we will not be providing details about transit thank you the honorable member for south surrey white rock mr speaker last week the minister of global affairs told ctv that quote canada is not a nuclear power it's not a military power we're a middle-sized power and what we're good at is convening and making sure that diplomacy is happening and in so doing insulted every canadian who has gone to war for this country or put on its uniform it is not the men and women of the canadian armed forces that are not ready to do their job it's this minister and this government that are incapable of doing theirs will the minister apologize to this country's veterans [Applause] the honourable prominent secretary to the minister of foreign affairs thank you mr speaker and i want to be very clear about this every single member on this side of the house not only supports the men and women in uniform today but those who were in the men in uniform yesterday and while [Applause] while we are not a superpower let me tell you what we do do our our men and women in uniform have supported the people of afghanistan we've supported the people of syria and most recently we have been on the ground and supported the troops in ukraine with tran with with training that has trained 30 uh military personnel we will continue to be there and that's what canada does well the honourable member for south surrey white rock mr speaker 11 years after afghanistan and 158 lives lost the minister thinks we're conveners not warriors i have news for the minister who should take a look at our canadian history the victors of vimy ridge the hundred days juno beach capion and op medus medusa deserve our admiration and our praise but are forgotten by this government will the minister apologize for her hurtful remarks to the military to veterans and to the families of our fallen you're here the honorable parliamentary secretary mr speaker let's talk in a little more recent history the previous conservative government dropped defense spending to the lowest level in 60 years [Applause] i i don't have to yell or anything i just i just have to sit here and wait for it to get to a point where i can hear the member the honorable parliamentary secretary i will repeat that what the previous conservative government did was drop defense spending to the lowest level in the last 60 years what this government is doing is recommitting to the armed forces to ensure that they are appropriately equipped that they will be engaged appropriately and they will continue to represent canada and canadian interests i'm hearing lots of yelling from the back row you don't have to yell quite as loud to be heard in this chamber so i'm just looking over saying keep calm it down calm it down all right thank you um the honourable member for teres de blasio mr speaker the minister must realize how urgent it is to resolve the lockout at canadian pacific the block wants a quick and negotiated resolution to the conflict but all we see is that there is an impasse despite the talks and we also see that with the pandemic and the war in ukraine and the ukraine supply chains are under unprecedented pressure will the minister himself sit down with both sides and signal that he is making conflict resolution his personal agenda the honourable minister they'll see me thank you very much mr speaker supply chains in canada are still being heavily affected by the floods in bc and also by the russian invasion in ukraine cp talks have to be our priority and i would exhort both parties to reach an agreement we have worked together throughout the pandemic to find solutions as canadians to our collective challenges and we expect the same thing with our national economy and those who are involved in it thank you mr speaker the honorable member for toyota obviously the minister did not understand my question unfortunately there is a strong tendency for this government when it deals with crises too often it watches them go by it minimizes its role it lets things get out of hand today the minister can break this pattern he has said that he will stay in calgary until both sides reach an agreement that's the right attitude but will he go really all the way and personally intervene to bring about a negotiated solution at cp rail [Applause] the honorable minister karen i will answer in english to make sure that i am not repeating myself and answering the member's question directly i am here in calgary i will not leave i don't intend to leave until we have an agreement i am dealing with both parties i am involved we have an excellent federal mediation and conciliation service they are at the table with the parties and i am optimistic with people at the table and not leaving that we will reach the deal that canadians demand and want as soon as possible merci monsieur the honorable member for cumberland colchester mr speaker at the start of the covet 19 pandemic in 2020 canadians were mandated for vaccines and vaccine passports and to stay at home canadians have complied and our fragile health care system has survived the entire world and 10 provinces in canada have re-opening plans mr speaker federal mandates need to end and canadians need to know what the benchmark and the plan the government is using to end the mandates mr speaker on what date will this government end federal mandates the honourable minister of health thank you mr speaker i'm pleased to answer this question the member speaks about the date april the first is when there will be no need for a pre-entrance rapid or antigen or molecular test entry to canada while we do mr speaker thank canadians for all the hard work that they've done over the last few months including vaccinating themselves in large numbers 87 million vaccines administered over the last year and a half while we do that that's an excellent we're going to work very hard mr speaker to keep protecting the health and safety of canadians the honourable member for bella's chasse lisa mr speaker the province of ontario is putting an end today to a series of temporary measures to fight the covet 19 pandemic canadians can finally have confidence in their future and go back to a normal life if the provinces and other g7 countries have come to the same conclusion what is this liberal government waiting for to announce the end of the federal mandates the honourable minister of health thank you very much mr speaker 1 600 deaths that is what vaccines prevented in recent months because of the mandates that were established by provinces and the federal government so 1 600 people that are with us now that wouldn't have been if we did not have these vaccine requirements we're also talking about billions four billion in particular in costs that we covered and that's a lot of money mr speaker but it's also what we spent to preserve the health and safety of canadian grand lake mr speaker over the course of the past couple of weeks every province in canada have either completely ended their mandates are given a solid deadline for when these measures will end including new brunswick yet this government is still forging ahead with their overreaching and intrusive mandates when will the federal government start trusting canadians stop dictating to them how to live their lives and give the people a date to end the mandate the honorable minister of health thank you mr speaker 135 000 that's a number of people who in the united states died because they were insufficiently vaccinated compared to canadians mr speaker that would have been a tragedy if in canada we would not have used that gift with science and scientists gave us a year and a half ago we are extremely grateful to all the vaccinators and all the canadians that did the right thing which is to protect their health and the health of those being responsible [Applause] [Music] mr speaker our government has developed several programs to support black communities across the country to develop the skills of community organizations to help entrepreneurs finance their activities in order to promote an inclusive economy i have announced 25 million dollars in support to 10 black led organizations can the minister of economic development tell us about the impact of this assistance to black communities in canada the honourable minister of development mr speaker i'd like to thank my colleague for his question and i would also like to acknowledge his tremendous work on behalf of the citizens of his writing our government is working closely with black business owners and organizations across canada for example the new black entrepreneurship program and there's other centers that help migrant women and other africans in quebec and elsewhere in canada our fund is destined to strengthen entrepreneurship for black entrepreneurs and business owners across the country we want them to support our recovery albert edmonton canadians want to take back control of their lives yet millions of canadians are unable to travel freely within canada unable to get on a plane unable to get on a train because of the liberals punitive and ineffective vaccine mandates this infringement on mobility rights constitutes an outlier among democracies so on what date will the liberals join the rest of the work democracies of this world and lift these mandates the honorable minister of health mr speaker the reason we're able to lift these mandates is that we have in canada one of the highest rates of vaccination in the world in canada about 85 percent who have had a first dose eighty-one percent through those almost sixty percent the third dose that's the reason for which we are able to lift these restrictions four hundred thousand people mr speaker that would have been the number of people dying in canada over 2021 in the absence of public health measures and vaccination the honorable member for peterborough kawartha this past weekend i spoke to hundreds of constituents from peterborough qartha hundreds who are scared and afraid because they can't afford to buy food pay for rent or put gas in their car people are suffering from anxiety depression and addiction because they can't manage the stress of making ends meet the carbon tax hike on april 1st could see an increase of 12 cents a liter at the pumps canadians cannot take any more how can this liberal government say they have canadians backs when will this government give my constituents and all canadians hope and drop the carbon tax scheduled for april 1st [Applause] the honourable minister of environment thank you mr speaker i thank my honorable colleague for a question our government put a price on carbon pollution to include to ensure clean air fewer emissions and more money in people's pocket as the carbon price increases this payment also increases leaving the majority of canadians with more money in their pockets mr speakers while conservatives want to take us backwards to a time when it was free to pollute our government will continue to move forward with practical and affordable solutions for canadians to cut pollution and create good jobs the honourable member for destination miss nippy churchill river mr speaker northern saskatchewan every product on every shelf has a significant freight cost transport companies i met with last week have been forced to raise their fuel surcharges just to survive that increase must be passed on and the cycle of inflation spirals out of control life gets more expensive every single day the government ignores this fact but my constituents do not have that luxury mr speaker what is the prime minister's plan for rising fuel prices will he at the very least cancel the scheduled increase to the carbon tax on april first [Applause] the honorable minister of tourism and associate minister of finance mr speaker we absolutely understand that inflation and affordability are pressing challenges for canadians we also know that this is a global phenomenon not a made in canada problem i want to ensure canadians that we're working hard to make life more affordable and remind the opposition benches that eight out of ten dollars that sustain canadians during the global pandemic came from the federal government we are committed to addressing housing affordability we will continue to pursue child care we will continue to increase ccb on this side of the house we're focused on affordability the honorable member for von woodbridge mr speaker as chair of the liberal auto caucus i am well aware that canada has long been considered a global leader in the auto sector as this as this sector transition towards a greener and zero emissions future we know that canada has every tool needed to be a world leader in evs and electric batteries skilled workers critical minerals clean and renewable energy a strong innovation ecosystem and integrated north american supply chain could the minister of innovation science and industry kindly update this house and how the government is securing good well-paying jobs in the auto sector by making major investments to support the transformation of canada's automotive manufacturing sector towards electrification thank you mr speaker the honourable minister of innovation science and industry thank you mr speaker and i'd like to thank the member for bob woodridge for his excellent question and his great leadership mr speaker you can see the passion even on the other side of the bench mr speaker it's been an exciting week so i understand the auto sector with our government securing major investment that will see the auto industry in this country thrives for decades mr speaker last week we saw on the making a 1.4 billion investment in the alistair plan in ontario and that mr speaker builds another investment from bsf and gm pasco and there's more to come mr speakers thank you the honourable member for edmonton strathcona mr speaker over 3 million people have now fled the violence in ukraine civilians are being bombed in their homes and even in hospitals they are desperate for support economic sanctions are a strong tool we have to force putin to stop committing war crimes however the sanctions announced by this government won't have the desired effect if they are not properly enforced will the minister commit to the ndp ask for ownership of assets to be made public and tell canadians how many russian assets have been frozen since the most recent invasion of ukraine yeah [Applause] the honorable parliamentary secretary thank you mr speaker and uh i want to thank the member for that question because the reality is this is an egregious invasion by russia into ukraine and we are using every economic tool that we can to ensure that we punish and suffocate russia so over 500 individuals and entities have been sanctioned just in the last three weeks we continue to do that the the systems are in place to make sure that we follow through on every one of those sanctions and we will continue to do everything to ensure that russia is suffocated while we continue to support ukraine in all its efforts thank you [Applause] the honourable member for kitchener center mr speaker i don't think the minister answered my colleagues question earlier so i'd like to try again following decades of under investment in via rail last week the federal government began to solicit the private sector to not only co-develop but to operate and maintain high frequency rail in the quebec city windsor core corridor we know that privatization is short-sighted we know it puts public money towards corporate profits and jeopardizes good jobs will the minister of transport reconsider and assure this house that via rail is on the verge of being privatized the honorable minister of transport speaker let me be very clear our government is not privatizing via let me also be very clear this is the largest project infrastructure project in canada's history and we are inviting all potential partners to help us do it right for for generations governments have talked about this type of project our government is delivering for canadians mr speaker this is good news for passengers this is good news for climate change this is good news for jobs and this is the way we build nations mr speaker well thank you for a great uh question period very lively very attentive that's all the time we have left

2022-03-26 04:38

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